The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-20
LOVELY WOMAN IN PERSIA.
She Must be Neither Fat Like the Ele-
phant nor Lean Like the Camel.


From the 81. James Gazette.
Eastern women are pitied as unhappy
beings on the theory that they are impris-
oned in a gilded cage closely guarded by
very ugly elnuchs, and reduced to spend
their time in attempting to catch the smiles
of a Jealous lord, as they sprawl in graceful
attitudes on silken cushions. Their only
other occupation is understood to be devour-
ing immense quantities of sweetmeats in
order to become corpulent; their only
amusement the pleasure of poisoning rival
wives and hearing interminable stories of
she Arabian Nights pattern.
1t is true that with the Turk beauty must
be fat. 1t is not so, however, with the PEI.
sian he has the appreciation of connois-
seur for .j,tSte millteW. A stout woman in
Persia is spoken of as an elephant, while the
1eaner ones are generally called camels,
Though they deal largely in hyperbole, the
PerSians do not mince matters in speaking
of the fair sex.
The veil, which is habitually worn out of
doors even by the very poor in all great
towns in Persia, though its use is unknown
among the tribes who form at least q third
of the whole population, is chung to by the
women as a privilege 1t is, in fact,
domino. The Persian woman out of doors
is unrecognlZable even by her husband She
sees without being seen, and in the veil it is
impossible to detect the age of the wearer.
As the Persian lady is nearly always mar
ried at "A, she begins to fade at % at latest,
at 30 she appears 50, and there are only two
dentists in the whole of Persia.
Polygamy is the luxury of the rich; with
the upper aud middle classes bgamy is the
rule. A mans first alliance is a marriage
de CONVEYANCE, the second either a mar
riage for love or for the qualification of
vanity. When your Persian brings home
second wife there is usually a scene which
lasts for week or two there is a struggle
for supremacy, but it is soon over. Both
wives do their best to please the master of
che house, but they do not attempt to poi
son each other unless in very exceptional
circumstances. But Persian ladies still be-
lieve in the efficacy of love phiters, and
many an abomination is secretly admins
tered to unfortunate husbands Happily,
the love phiter, though usually composed
of horrible ingredients, is quite harmless.
The bath takes up good deal of the time
of all Persian women. Even the poorest
will attend the Hannah at least once a
week. For the lady, the bath is one of the
serious affairs of life, and takes I'D daily
from two to four hours Of her time. It is
something more than our idea of a bath
The victim is scraped and rubbed and par
boiled The soles of the feet are pumiced
until they are as soft and tender as those of
a little child The hair is thoroughly
washed by means of hot water and the
saponaceous clay for which Shiraz is cele-
brated. Then the attendants mix in brazen
bowl the aromatic henna, with the requisite
amount of lemon juice, till a brown
paste of the consistency of cruel is
produced, and several handfuls of the re-
pulslve-looklng compound are smeared over
the lady's head, Then the hair, collected
into mass, is hound up in cabbage leaves
Small quantities of the dye are smeared
over the eyebrows; the soles of the feet. the
toes, the palms of the hands and the finger
tips are also covered with it, And now the
lady has to sit still for from one to three
hours, TILL like a meerschaum pipe, she
colorS; and it is exactly the color obtained
on the best specimens of pipes that is most
fashionable among Persian ladies. Dav
after day the bath is thronged with women,
each sitting perfectly still for the color to
take" But they have their reward, for
the Henna dyes the hair beautiful deep,
warm chestnut; hence gray hair is unknown
among Persian ladies.
While the coloring process has been going
on tongues have been running, and a good
deal of scandal has been exchanged. The
female barber with a pair of tweezers has
removed every outlying hair from the re-
gion of the lady's eyebrows. 1t is the am
bition of every Persian woman that her
do so. So attractive are eyebrows that
meet that they are called the bridge of
love" The first care, then, of the Persian
beauty is with a little pencil of antimonv
to unite her eyebrows, and then she pro
ceeds to make them appear of unnatural
thickness Her eyelashes are penciled, too,
IN manner not unknown to our own
countrywomen. By this time the lady
will have smoked many kalians or water
pipes, she will have partaken of tea and re-
called herself with coffee Iced sherbets,
too, will not have been wanting Her
hnger tips, nails and palms, as well as the
soles OF her feet and toes have attained a
bright chestnut hue, which will last week.
The hair is carefully washed once more. 1t
is seldom under a yard long, often much
more, for the Persian woman never cuts
her hair, except in front, perhaps, when two
heavy love locks are left on either side of
the face. The ladies now return home to
their monday breakfasts. After breakfast
there IS generally siesta, and this in hot
country is almost necessity. About
o'clock tea and pipes appear, and then the
lady receives callers or pays visits, or per-
haps does little shopping or takes the air
mounted on her ambling mule OF donkey
OF snowy whiteneSs.
The Persian lady is a good housewise She
rises with the dawn, she is liberal in her
housekeeping, kind to her servants-a little
protuse, perhaps, but then living is cheapin
the East. The keys of everything are in
the Keeping of the mistress of the house,
and she is usually exact in her account Ali
the vast stock of the conserves and sweet
ments, syrups for the preparation of sher-
bets, and pickles in endless varirty are
either prepared by her own fingers or under
her eyes. Nor does she disdain to be con-
fectloner and maker of pastry
AS evening approaches-the long and
elaborate Persian dinner being partaken of
among the upper classes by the sexes apart
she prepares to entertain her husband
she will play to him upon the Lutte or har-
monica; she will sing to him or read him to
sleep with poetry, or she will play with him
at backgammon or chess or recite to him
long stories in the style of the Arabian
Nights. When he is sick she nurses him,
and 1T is her pride to see that his wardrobe
Is well supplied and his servants well clad
She VIII intrigue for him, plead for him, lie
Tor him, and has been known to die for him.
she will even carry her complaisance SO far
as To find another wife for him